Recent articles: Librarians' teacher agency; Faculty pedagogy; Data Literacy; Synthesising information

A articles from the last couple of issues (no.s 2 and 3) of portal: libraries and the academy. These articles are all open access.
- Lenker, M. (2025). Thoughts on Synthesizing Information: A Research Skill for Our Time? portal: Libraries and the Academy, 25(3), 441-452. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/pla.2025.a964599. "Synthesizing information from multiple sources is a crucial skill for information literacy, and it is exceedingly important for learning in the 21st century information landscape. An influential 2015 paper by Kacy Lundstrom and colleagues presents a nuanced view of research synthesis from an information literacy perspective, particularly in the rubric they propose for assessing students' synthesis in writing projects. I use the categories in this rubric to reflect on my own piecemeal work on synthesis and pose questions about how to teach this skill more effectively. "
- Pothier, W., & Condon, P. (2025). Data Literacy Skills: Industry Perspectives and Professional Practice. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 25(2), 271-298. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/pla.2025.a955946.
- Baer, A. (2025). The Role of Librarian Relationships in Academic Instruction Librarians' Experiences of Teacher Agency. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 25(2), 341-366. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/pla.2025.a955949. Part 3 of a series of articles based on a survey of North American academic librarians.
- Meals, C., Kowalski, M., & Rusk, F. (2025). Where We Come In: Faculty Research Pedagogy and Implications for Librarian Practice. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 25(2), 367-388. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/pla.2025.a955950. "Research" here means carrying out sceondary research via the literature, not empirical research. The article reports findings from interviews with academics teaching writing composition.
Photo by Sheila Webber: pine branch and spring tree on a sunny day, June 2025